Photo by Steve Dachman
Cory Westbrook may have been born under a bad moon and taken his first steps under a ladder, across the path of a black cat, while opening an umbrella indoors—there’s just not a lot of other ways to explain the Poly senior running back’s luck. As a sophomore, Poly coach Raul Lara says, Westbrook was looked at as “possibly another Hershel Dennis”; several knee injuries later, the resilient back is just looking to finish his senior year strong.
“When Cory first came into our program,” remembers Lara, “I knew right off the bat he’d be a fantastic football player.” As a sophomore, he stood out on a team bursting at the seams with talented running backs—with six backs who carried the ball at least 40 times, Westbrook still showed something special, playing in 11 of his team’s 14 games, and gaining 558 yards with an eight yards per-carry average. Unfortunately, that’s about the end of the good news. That season he hurt his knee against Cabrillo, then tried to come back from the injury a little too early.
The Summer before his junior year, Westbrook tore the meniscus in his other knee during a passing league game, and this time had surgery that sidelined him until just before the playoffs—in seven of Poly’s 15 games, he gained 150 yards on 6.25 yards per-carry, never taking more than six carries in any single game because of his knee. His senior year, he was one of a very rare few with three years of varsity experience, and was looking forward to being a leader on the team. But during the Summer he sprained his ACL badly (in the opposite knee from the one he’d had operated on), and barely got back in time for the season opener; then in the middle of the season, a bad bone bruise on the surgically repaired knee took him out of a few games.
Both Westbrook and his coach stressed that these injuries aren’t just normal wear and tear, but legitimate, almost freak injuries to his knees. “It’s just so unfortunate that he’s been injured a lot,” says Lara. “That’s been holding him back.” Lara says the team’s coaches saw in Westbrook the potential to be one of America’s top 100 running back recruits.
“All I hear is just ‘bad luck, bad luck,'” says Westbrook, who knows more about knee injuries than some orthopedic surgeons. “But my teammates know I love the game, and that I’m out here whenever I can be—they know I’m a serious dude.”
Westbrook currently has an offer from Portland State—which he’s very happy about, but which would undoubtedly not have been on his radar had he been healthy for the last three years—but isn’t looking that far ahead. When you’ve gone from “possibly the next Hershel Dennis” to being frustrated by injuries time and time again, you learn not to do that. Instead, Westbrook is focused on the current moment with a zen-like intensity. “I’m feeling good today, this week, and I’m just hoping to have a good game against Los Al. And no injuries,” he says smiling.
“Hopefully now that we’re in the playoffs, we can extend his senior season, and he can show everybody what he’s capable of,” says Lara, who’s glad Westbrook is getting the opportunity to play beyond the high school level, even with the injuries he’s sustained. “On film, especially as a sophomore, you can see the potential in him—if he stays healthy, he can be a top-notch running back in the country.”